Here we are at the last monster of the month. This one comes from the Yanomami of Brazil and Venezuela. Definitely looks like a dangerous critter. There’s also not a lot of information out there on them.
As you can see, the Aun Pana is a fish with sharp teeth and a hairy body. It also has two muscular arms that can grab prey. Another name for them is the Pehiwetinome, but some sites said that this was a separate creature that they traveled with. Both are vicious predatory fish that hunted in schools throughout the rivers and lakes. I actually learned a new term with this guys, which is anthropophagus. That’s a fancy way of saying they eat people.
The only story that I kept finding was about the Aun Pana chewing on the supports of a wooden bridge. They wanted to get the Yanomani people walking across into the water for easy devouring. It did collapse, but the remains turned into a raft. Those who got onto the raft survived to turn into monkeys and pigs. Although, it wasn’t entirely clear of those who were changed really escaped.
The Aun Pana supposedly has some magical powers such as transforming others. That might be why the humans were turned into monkeys and pigs. Maybe this made them easier prey? These creatures are supposed to be highly intelligent enough to use swarming tactics to take down larger prey and defeat obstacles. Aun Pana also made alliances with other monsters to help get food. At least, that’s what I found on a few sites, but no stories to prove this.
A big reason that I kept his monster here and put it at the end was because I ran into a common problem. Many fantasy authors and fantasy RPG makers had created their own versions of some monsters. The Aun Pana showed up most times with the same story and origin, but also stats or a fictional biography. I guess their appearance and being fairly unknown makes them rather enticing for anyone trying to build a bestiary for their worlds. Dragons, unicorns, and the like are all over the place, so throwing a few obscure mythological beings can spice things up.
Unfortunately, this can muddy the waters for anyone trying to research the actual mythology. If you’re in a rush, you might not notice that you are taking information from a fictional source. Sometimes, the story isn’t a clear fabrication because the author is writing it as real for their world. This is why one has to diligent and apologetic if they made mistakes. Fingers crossed that I didn’t screw up too often over the course of this month.
So, what obscure monster do you have in your head that others might not think of?
Sunday might not be the best day to do this, but I thought I’d try.
Wednesday is National Author’s Day. I thought about promoting Do I Need to Use a Dragon? and then considered expanding on that. It’s going to be really simple. I was just going to make a post that lists a bunch of indie books with the titles linking to the sales page. Nothing special, but it would work to get a bunch of books out there on a barely known holiday with a single post. Probably pin it for a day or two as well.
If anybody wants a book listed then comment with the title and sales page in the comments. I’ll put the information into the scheduled post as soon as I can. If you know an author who might want to be listed then feel free to share their information (with permission) or send them along.
First, I want to share a link to a GoFundMe that my friends are doing. The full story is on the site, but I can sum up. My friends have been trying to have a child and have been met with difficulties. They have learned that the only path they have is surrogacy, but that is expensive. They are already great parents to a little girl and I know they would be amazing to a second child as well. So, I’m going to share their link and see if I can help them achieve their goal. GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE!
Now, to get into my week . . . What happened?
Last weekend was just fun and relaxing with my son. Pokemon Go, a live-action Asterix & Obelix movie, homework, and there were probably other things done as well. Oh, I made penne with homemade vodka sauce for dinner. We also started watching ‘Ranking of Kings’, so he can write a review for ASL extra credit next quarter. After all that, we entered the week where several tests reared their head. Guess that’s normal for being within 2-3 weeks of the end of the quarter.
I’d love to say that I did some writing, but I didn’t. Got a few December blog posts done when I had time. A lot of it was due to errands and exercising taking up a lot of my evenings. With the CPAP machine requiring at least 4 hours of sleep, I can’t really stay up late. The real goal is at least 7 hours of sleep, which I’ve been trying to hit. That’s not easy when I wake up at 5:30 AM and finally get to sit down around 9:30 PM. That gives me only 30 minutes to relax before I need to turn in. Guess this is my life for a while, but at least I have weekends.
That’s really it. The ‘life event’ is picking up speed and I’m having trouble getting my mind to leave it alone. I’m scared. I’m anxious. I’m worried. This is going to have some major ramifications and I don’t feel like I have any influence over things. Kind of like I’m simply along for the ride with the occasional punch to the face, which I have to accept with a smile or risk getting in trouble. Too dramatic? Maybe, but it’s definitely wearing on me since I don’t like being in situations where I can’t even talk without fearing that it will cause some repercussions. People taking advantage of things and goading me into releasing even a hint of my temper doesn’t help. I’m praying that this week sees a change or an end to the ‘life event’. Time will tell. If I report that I wrote more than a chapter next Saturday then that will be a sign things aren’t too bad.
Writing is the challenge at this point since I’m kind of distracted. I really want to write another chapter of Darwin & the Beast Collector this weekend. It’s 4 sections, which is doable, but I can’t be sure of my mood. I’m having lunch with a friend today, so that might help boost my spirits. If I’m really lucky, I can even start digging into the next chapter, which is another 4 section. Being at the final, action-packed act kind of requires me to be in a solid, focused mindset. The action needs to work and I need to be able to lose myself in the events. Darwin has been let loose too, so I might have to give into his impulsive nature to get through things. It doesn’t help that I’m not sure if all of the pieces are fitting. For one thing, I forgot after the first imp that these things had names and started having them speak again. Oops. Not sure if I should fix that or leave it alone since the ones appearing in the middle were more aggressive and focused on attacking as well as moving quickly. Maybe they simply didn’t have time to talk . . . That could work.
That’s really it for me. I know people don’t really have much to say when I make posts like this. I’m not feeling like I have much control over my own life. At least, other people appear to have more impact and influence than I do. Halloween is coming, which might be entertaining. I don’t have my son for the holiday, so I’m not as excited as I would normally be. Might just stay in my room and write depending on my mood. Really just not feeling much of anything at this moment. Can’t really be surprised given what I’ve had to deal with, especially this week.
Goals of the week:
Help son study for quarterly tests.
Write some Darwin & the Beast Collector.
Lunch with friend.
Do laundry.
Get sleep.
Swallow emotions long enough to make it to next weekend.
The Tiddalik comes from Australian mythology and is connected to a popular creation myth. Specifically, this creature comes from the Australian Indigenous Dreaming Stories, which some people call ‘Dreamtime’. To be honest, I couldn’t figure out if some of these terms were correct or born from brutal colonization. That’s not what this post is about, so let’s get to the creature.
Long ago, Tiddalik the frog woke up with a great thirst. He ended up drinking every drop of freshwater in the world, which caused plants and animals to start dying. In some stories, this is what turned him from a small frog into a bloated, gigantic one. The owl suggested that they get Tiddalik to laugh and release all of the water. All of them tried and failed until an eel started dancing. He twisted his body into different shapes, which caused Tiddalik to laugh and release all of the water back into the world. Other versions have it be a platypus dancing and tumbling around to cause the laughter.
Another version has this plan resulting in a great flood, which killed many animals. A pelican set out to save as many as he could. For some reason, the story has it that he got aggressive when a human woman refused to be his bride. So, he painted his all black feathers white as a sign of war. He ended up being killed by another pelican who didn’t recognize him. Pelicans have black and white feathers in his honor. This creation myth definitely tries to cover a lot of ground.
As for Tiddalik, he shrunk to his former size, but had laughed so hard that he could only croak. It’s said that he was based on the ‘water-holding frog’, so his descendants practice every night to try and regain their voice. They also attempt to repeat what Tiddalik achieved on a smaller scale.
Another story with Tiddalik has him discovering that Echidna was hording water. After his tale, he was used an animal who despised those who kept water for themselves. So, he followed Echidna and dove into the secret stash. He also shouted that the water was for everyone even though he had lost his voice at the end of the creation myth. Either way, the other animals arrived and threw Echidna into a nearby thorn bush, which is how he got his spines.
As I stated, it is believed that Tiddalik is based off the ‘water-holding frog’. They burrow underground and only emerge during the rain to drink a lot of water, breed, and find some food. The interesting thing is that the story is usually connected to the Gunai Kurnai people, who don’t live in the water-holding frog’s territory. The two possibilities are that Tiddalik is based on a different type of frog OR the tale comes from a time thousands of years ago when this frog had a broader territory.
Like many mythological stories, the tale of Tiddalik does have a lesson. It may be two-fold this time. One is that a person shouldn’t keep all of a precious resource to themselves in a time of need. This pushes the idea that a community needs to work together to survive. It can also be a way to tell people about the water-holding frog. People would dig them up and use them as a water source during times of drought. Not a bad survival lesson to learn.
I was dancing around this one because it’s a fairly popular one. Then, I thought that it might only be common to me because I want a lot of anime and read a lot of manga. So, others might have never heard of the Bake-Danuki. We’re going to use the more common name of ‘Tanuki’, which is also what the Japanese call a raccoon dog. Adorable guy on the left, huh?
Bake-Danuki is translated to ‘transforming raccoon dog’, so it really is the true name of this creature. As you can tell, it is a raccoon dog that has gained the ability to change shape. The form of the Tanuki has changed to a bipedal, chubby animal that is usually wearing a straw hat and drinking sake/rice wine. They are also known to play the drums using their belly. The most distinct feature is its large scrotum, which can magically expand. Sometimes, these are depicted as so big that the Tanuki can put them over its shoulder or use them as a weapon, umbrella, and fishing net. This is primarily for artwork while stories focused more on their shapeshifting and belly drumming. It was mostly after the Edo period artwork that the scrotum got more attention . . . Can’t believe I had to write that sentence.
Behavior-wise, the Tanuki has changed from its earlier incarnation. Early on, it would take human form in order to steal, trick people, and even kill. As time went on, they were turned into tricksters that were innocent instead of malicious. The Tanuki would even be depicted as a humorous figure during the Edo period, which seems to be where a lot of changes in the mythos occurred. Today, you may see Tanuki statues on properties since they are symbols of prosperity and good luck.
The powers of a Tanuki revolve around shapeshifting and illusions. They enjoy taking human form in order to pull pranks. Supposedly, their favorite trick was to turn into a government official and start harassing someone at home for tax money. That or accuse them of a crime for chuckles. It was hard to discern if it was a Tanuki too. They slightly glow when they transform, which you can’t see during the day. If it is raining, their clothes would remain dry. Finally, losing focus would result in their fluffy tail popping out and revealing their true nature.
Tanukis can also change into objects. They can change into trees, rocks, lanterns, and just about anything. In fact, another favorite prank is changing into a moon when the moon is already out. This would make a person think they are going crazy. This goes along with them making noises to trick people at night. Sadly, there are tales of this backfiring on Tanuki after Japan opened to the West. Trains began running along single tracks, so these creatures started imitating the whistle. A train would stop, wait, and nothing would happen. Eventually, the conductor would ignore the noise and continue going. The next morning, they’d find a dead Tanuki on the tracks.
There is so much on Tanukis that I don’t think I can jam it all in here. You have many stories to choose from. So, I’d say take a look around and see what they’re all about.
